The Women's Peace Crusade

The Women's Peace Crusade
PredecessorWomen's Peace Negotiation Crusade
Formation1 July 1916; 108 years ago (1916-07-01)
FounderHelen Crawfurd, Agnes Dollan, Mary Barbour, Mrs Ferguson
Founded atGlasgow
TypeGrassroots socialist movement
PurposeTo negotiate an end to World War I
Key people
Helen Crawfurd, Agnes Dollan, Mary Barbour, Mrs Ferguson
Female workers at the Harland and Wolff shipbuilding yard at Govan during the First World War

The Women's Peace Crusade was a grassroots socialist movement that spread across Great Britain between 1916 and 1918. Its central aim was to spread a 'people's peace', which was defined as a negotiated end to the First World War without any annexations or indemnities. The movement was first established in Glasgow in July 1916, and officially launched on 10 June 1917. It later spread across Great Britain, with demonstrations taking place in Leeds, Bradford, Leicester, Birmingham and Lancashire. Although it gathered a substantial following, the Women's Peace Crusade faced opposition from both the government and police, with members being arrested and reportedly threatened.[1]

  1. ^ Liddington, Jill (1989). The Long Road to Greenham. Virago.